Fight Me
by galianogangster
Summary: The one where Mal says "fight me" too often, and it finally comes back to bite her...


Evie focused on the click clack of her heels against the concrete to distract herself from the unpleasant breeze. She was donning a faux fur coat in her signature blue, but it didn't shield her rosy cheeks from the biting cold. The September day had appeared sunny from outside her window, but the longer she spent on her walk the more she regretted leaving her cozy dorm room. Why was the library so far away anyway? She shook her head and increased her pace. She was not going to let some wind ruin her day. Upon awakening earlier, Evie had been determined to finish her essay for Modern Fashion and Design. She had been uncharacteristically procrastinating in favor of enjoying her first week back at Auradon. Unfortunately, all of the lush fabrics and glitzy accessories she had been itching to use in her dorm room proved far too tempting to get anything done, so she decided a change of scenery was necessary. This brought her to the library.

The change in temperature was instant upon entering the building, and Evie welcomed the warmth like a hug from an old friend. The familiar feeling of being watched overcame her as she made her way through the library. Evie had always been blessed with beauty, and adding her fancy clothing and blue hair only made it worse. Capturing the attention of everyone in the room was not new for her. Perhaps she reveled in it a little. She strutted through the building with her head held high.

Her mood was abruptly ruined when she rounded the corner to find her cubicle occupied. It's not like she had any real claim to the spot, but she did sit there for at least an hour every weekday for the past four semesters and felt oddly fond of it. A dainty scoff escaped her lips at the purple-haired intruder, but the other girl was too absorbed in her work to notice. Evie's eyes scanned the various cubicles and found that all of the ones with computers were being used. She hadn't packed a notebook. Actually, she hadn't packed anything at all. Her heartbeat increased as she rounded the cluster of cubicles once more. No luck. In fact, her frustration only mounted because the purple-haired girl wasn't even using the computer in the cubicle. She was furiously scratching away in a sketchbook. Who would take one of the only cubicles with a computer and not even use it?! There were countless other spots in the library that are perfectly suited for drawing. Come to think of it, why was this girl even drawing in the library when there were perfectly fine studios in the art building?! The more she pondered the girl's decisions the more frustrated she grew.

Evie thrusted herself into the comfy chair directly behind the cubicle thief, not even bothering to be graceful. Perhaps if she glared at the back of her head long enough, the other girl would move. Fifteen minutes passed and Evie was about ready to burst. There was no way she was walking all the way back to her dorm in the cold just to return here with her laptop. Evie was not standing for this. She gathered her coat in her hands and stomped up behind the girl, looming over her in hopes to intimidate.

"Can I help you?" the purple-haired girl lazily asked, not even looking up from her, admittedly impressive, drawing.

"Yes, actually. Some people need to use the school computers for," Evie started, eyeing the sketchbook, "important work."

The purple-haired girl scoffed. "This is a drawing assignment," she pointedly informed Evie.

"The least you could do is be courteous and relocate so that people who need the computers can use them!" Evie argued, growing impatient.

"The least you can do, princess, is ask nicely," the other girl countered. Evie's eyebrows furrowed at the pet name and her foot stomped lightly against the floor.

"I shouldn't even have to ask! It's common sense to use the cubicle best suited to your needs! You shouldn't even be in here if you're drawing!" she exclaimed.

"Fight me, this is a public space!" the purple-haired girl growled, standing up from her chair to face Evie.

Evie heard the smack before she even realized what she did. As a matter-of-fact, everyone on the first floor of the library heard the smack. There were even a few gasps and 'oos' going around. The purple-haired-girl's pale hand cupped her cheek, and her jaw was dropped. She could have swore her eyes were glowing green. Evie's hands covered her own shocked expression.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Evie quickly apologized.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" the purple-haired girl yelled, much too loudly for a library.

"I-I don't know, I was just so frustrated, and you said 'fight me'!" Evie uncharacteristically stuttered.

"It's an expression!" Mal shouted, hands flying away from her face and balling into fists at her side. The action revealed a scratch mark across her cheek, which was slowly accumulating blood.

"Oh my god, you're hurt!" Evie gasped, hands automatically finding the girl's face. They were quickly shoved away.

"You know what?" The purple-haired girl asked with angry exasperation as she gathered her sketchbook into her arms. "You can have the goddamn desk!" she finished, punctuated by the scrape of the chair and the boom of her boots moving into the distance.

Evie remained standing in front of the computer. There it was, exactly what she wanted. But she didn't feel the sweet hum of victory; she only felt sickening guilt. She couldn't believe she had actually slapped the girl. Evie, who spent years having manners and politeness pounded into her skull by her unforgiving mother, lost control. Her eyes fell to an ornate purple pen, and her stomach dropped even further. She delicately picked it up and examined the utensil. It appeared to be hand-carved with great care. Evie wondered how many hours of existence someone dedicated to creating it. It undoubtedly belonged to the girl she had upset, and Evie's grip tightened on it. She steeled herself and, before she knew it, she was starting off in the direction the girl had disappeared to.

It wasn't hard to locate the girl. Once Evie had rounded the corner of the library, she found most of the customers in the café gawking in the direction of the bathrooms. She tentatively pushed open the door and found the other girl staring at her reflection in the mirror. Green eyes met red-brown, and the purple-haired girl scoffed.

"Come to give me a matching pair?" She asked sarcastically, pointing to the scratch-mark on her cheek. Evie's eyes followed the blood dripping down the girl's cheek, in bright contrast to her pale skin. She tentatively approached the girl.

"No, I came to give you this." Evie said softly, gently setting the pen onto the bathroom counter.

"My own pen. Gee, thanks. Did you swipe it from me when I wasn't paying attention?" the purple haired girl asked harshly before holding a paper towel to the cut. Evie's eyebrows furrowed. She figured the girl was just snapping at her because she was still upset, and she had the right to be.

"No, you left it in the cubicle, and it was so pretty I figured you would miss it had someone actually taken it," she explained carefully. Green eyes flashed with something akin to guilt. "Where did you get it?" Evie asked, attempting to make conversation. The other girl was quiet for some time, but then her shoulders dropped and she gave up her façade.

"My friend Jay stole it from a craftsman in our hometown and gave it to me for my birthday," she said, examining the pen with guarded fondness. Evie restrained herself from appearing too surprised.

"Oh, wow, that's...special," she mustered. The purple-haired girl let out a dry chuckle.

"Yeah, well, we couldn't afford to get presents for each other for special occasions so we improvised," she said, pointedly glancing at Evie's expensive-looking clothing.

"Money doesn't make holidays special; sharing it with other people does," Evie replied sadly, recalling the many times she celebrated holidays with only the company of her garments.

"Wow, that's deep. Did you get that off a greeting card?" the purple-haired girl asked, but when Evie's eyes met hers they found no malice. Evie scoffed lightly.

"No, I'm merely saying that at least you had people to spend special occasions with," she clarified. After a beat she added "My mother would always leave me all alone in our big house to go out with her friends."

"Why didn't you just sneak your friends in?" the purple-haired girl inquired. Evie stiffened and avoided the other girl's gaze. After a while, Mal put the pieces together. "You're trying to tell me that a girl like you didn't have friends?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Evie bristled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

"Well, I mean, you're, you know, gorgeous; I just figured you'd be popular with all the guys..." Mal struggled. Evie blushed, but still appeared unimpressed. "...gals?" Mal tentatively added. Evie laughed.

"Nope. I was home-schooled, and there were no princes, or princesses, allowed in my castle," she stated.

"That sucks," the purple-haired girl replied. She removed the blood-soaked paper towel from her face. It appeared as though the bleeding had stopped.

"Tell me about it," Evie said. The girls stood there for a few moments before a brunette pushed open the bathroom door. Upon seeing the two girls from the altercation earlier, her blue eyes widened comically, and she promptly exited the room. The purple-haired girl suddenly let out a genuine, full laugh, and Evie found herself joining in. Happiness looked good on the other girl, she thought. Her green eyes were more captivating and less intimidating, her nose crinkled adorably, and a set of dimples even appeared out of nowhere. Evie quickly realized how beautiful the other girl really was.

"I'm Evie," she introduced, extending her hand with a charming smile.

"Mal," the other girl replied easily, encasing her hand in a firm grip. "Those are some nails you've got," Mal commented, and Evie paled.

"I am so sorry about that! I honestly don't know what came over me! I ne-" she frantically apologized, but Mal cut her off.

"Evie, Evie! It's okay," she assured, hands finding Evie's. "I've had much worse," she admitted, but that only seemed to further upset the blue-haired girl.

"That doesn't make it okay!" Evie cried, eyes swimming with regret.

"It's fine. Maybe I'll even get a really cool scar from it; then I can say I was attacked by a cougar or something," Mal joked.

"A cougar?" Evie questioned. Mal looked at her with a a blank expression.

"You are older than me, aren't you?" she asked. Evie gazed at her with confusion for a few moments before blushing furiously at the insinuation and sputtering a defense. Mal's dimples made another appearance.

"It's a joke!" she laughed. Evie laughed weakly in reply. She eventually decided then that she didn't mind being the butt of Mal's jokes as long as she got to see her smile.

"So, what year are you then?" Evie inquired, changing the subject. Mal casually released their hands in favor of resting them in the pockets of her leather jacket.

"I'm a freshman," she replied with a sigh, awaiting some form of mockery. She wasn't disappointed.

"That explains why you don't know the library etiquette yet," Evie teased. Both girls laughed.

"Maybe you could teach me," Mal suggested, leaning against the counter with a glint in her eye.

"I could teach you a lot of things," Evie offered suggestively, voice lowering.

"Yeah, like what?" Mal challenged. Evie balked. She wasn't expecting a counter to the comment.

"Um, like, where your classes are and what...food...to avoid?" she grappled, wringing her hands together. Mal watched her with thinly veiled amusement.

"It's been a week; I think I've got that by now," she said, winking, and Evie fidgeted in place.

"Right," she said, so quietly it might have even been to herself.

"How about you show me what food not to avoid? Atone for your mistake by taking me out," Mal suggested. Evie brightened.

"I can do that!" she quickly agreed.

"For dinner tonight? The cafeteria is open from 4:30 to 7:00, right?" Mal asked. Evie bit her lip.

"Yeah, it is, but I actually have to finish an essay today...and I have no idea how long it's going to take..." she confessed. Mal nodded with understanding.

"Hence why you needed the computer," she followed, piecing the picture together. The blue-haired girl nodded regretfully. Mal searched for an answer in the tiles of the bathroom floor.

"Tell you what," she started, gazing back up at the other girl. "If there's no more computers open here you can come back to my dorm. My roommate has a desktop for gaming, but he should be at Tourney practice by now." Evie's expressions shifted between excitement and hesitation.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a nuisance! I've done enough already!" she exclaimed. Mal laughed lightly.

"Trust me, you'll be a welcome change of scenery," she assured, sighing heavily. "Boys are gross," she recalled. To that, Evie laughed in agreement. After a beat, she agreed to the arrangement, and both girls exited the bathroom together. Once they got walking, however, they both made their way over to Mal's dorm, cubicles long forgotten.

Evie was pleased to discover that Mal's dorm was a much shorter distance from the library than her own. Especially when she noticed that the purple-haired girl had not bothered to wear a warm coat. "I've been in worse with less," Mal had easily replied, and Evie's heart sank a little for the girl. She couldn't imagine having to live like that. She also couldn't imagine having to live in such a small dorm room. Or one that was covered in food and presumably dirty clothes. It was almost comical. The quaint room was nearly split in half; one side with clutter and one without. It was clear which section was Mal's. "I am so sorry about..." Mal started, vaguely gesturing to Jay's side of the dorm. "All that...boys will be boys, I guess."

"That they will," Evie replied, stepping over some take-out boxes to get to the clean portion. Mal groaned dramatically. Evie followed her gaze to what could have been a desk under a bunch of clothing. Mal let out an equally theatrical sigh and carefully leapt over to it. She used two fingers to remove each article of clothing and tossed them into a laundry basket on the other side of the room. Evie made herself comfortable on the only seating over on Mal's side of the room - her bed. It appeared the task would take the purple-haired girl a while, so Evie snuggled right into the warm blankets and hummed contently.

Mal finished the job with a final spritz of air freshener. "Sorry that took so lo-" she apologized, spinning to face the blue-haired girl but not expecting her to be where she found her. "You uh - you look good in my bed," she said, and immediately regretted how much she had sounded like her roommate, Jay.

"Mal Bertha, are you flirting with me?" Evie asked with a smug smile, not bothering to move from her blanket burrito. Mal blushed, and nervously scanned the room for evidence. Her eyes landed on a small post-it note on her bed frame reading 'Mal Bertha, going out after practice. Don't wait up!'. She gritted her teeth.

"Wow, Jay, haunting me from beyond the grave," she spat. Evie laughed easily.

"He's not dead," she offered, judging by the state of his side of the room.

"He will be soon," Mal assured. "The day he learned that was my middle name he insisted on calling me that just to piss me off. He's since learned not to say it to my face," she told Evie, who giggled at the admission.

Mal had to admit. She wasn't expecting anyone to be in her bed today, but now that there was, she didn't want it to end. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it. The other girl simply looked adorable all wrapped up in her blankets. "Too bad I don't have a laptop so you could work right there," she teased. Evie smiled sheepishly.

"I'd probably fall asleep; it's for the best," she said before stretching and exiting the bed. She turned to remake it, but Mal stopped her.

"Don't bother; I'm going to finish my drawing there anyway," Evie nodded and made her way to the newly cleaned desk.

"I saw it before, in the library. You're really talented," she praised.

"Thanks!" Mal said genuinely. "My professors insist that talented artists are only talented because they've done their craft a lot. It kind of kicks you in the ass a bit if you've spent your life thinking it was the one thing made you special." Evie hummed in understanding.

"Yeah, I'm a Modern Fashion student, so I've heard the spiel before," she informed the other girl. It didn't seem to surprise her. "But I think there's a difference between artists that can make something look or sound incredible and artists that can make you feel a part of their soul just by looking at or hearing their work," Evie mused.

Both girls remained silent for a long time after that. Evie continued working diligently on her paper, and Mal finished up her drawing. She had been placing some final details in when her stomach growled. Her eyes flashed to Evie to see if the girl had noticed. The blue-haired girl was slumped over, perfect posture long forgotten, and lazily typed away. She looked exhausted. Mal slowly got up and set her sketchbook on her modest side table. She tentatively approached the other girl and cleared her throat. Evie jumped as if she had been snapped out of a trance.

"Hey, I'm going to go pick up some food; are you okay here?" Mal carefully asked. Evie nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm almost done; I just need to figure out how I'm going to conclude it," she replied sleepily. The way her eyes were squinted and glazed over, Mal wasn't sure she was capable of writing anything coherent.

"Are you sure?" she prodded.

"Abso-tootly!" Evie exclaimed, nodding more than necessary. Mal held back a laugh.

"That's not a real word, but I'll be right back, okay?" she assured, but Evie had not stopped nodding from her second question. "Don't leave; I don't want you walking around campus alone like that," she insisted. Evie closed her eyes and hummed in response. Mal shook her head in amusement and headed to Beast's Bar.

"I'm back! I brought you so-" Mal announced upon returning to her dorm. Her comment died in her throat when her eyes fell on Evie. The girl's head was gently resting on her arms, and her body contracted softly with her breaths. The purple-haired girl smiled fondly and carefully set the food container on the desk near Evie. Maybe it was the smell of food, or maybe she could sense someone near, but Evie's eyes blinked open. She glanced around the room to gauge where she was. When she noticed Mal she relaxed significantly before subsequently jolting awake fully.

"Oh my god, I fell asleep! That's so embarrassing!" Evie exclaimed, flushing slightly. Mal chuckled good-naturedly.

"It's okay, essays put me to sleep, too!" she joked. "Did you get it done?" she inquired. Evie's eyebrows furrowed before she answered.

"I vaguely remember finishing it...it's not due until tomorrow morning, so I'll review it then before class," Evie decided. "Couldn't eat everything?" she asked, eying the food container with 'Mal' neatly handwritten on the top. This time it was Mal's turn to blush.

"Um, actually, I-uh-I haven't eaten yet; I brought food for both of us because I figured you must be just as hungry as me. You don't have to eat it if you don't want to, of course!" Mal rambled nervously. Evie popped open the container to reveal that it was filled to the brim with chicken nuggets. "I got them because it's only ten dollars for fifty of them, and I thought 'who doesn't love chicken nuggets?', you know? But if you're a vegetarian or something I can go get something else!" Mal continued. Evie giggled at the situation before grabbing a chicken nugget and biting into it. She moaned slightly at the taste, and Mal turned impossibly redder.

"Auradon makes some incredible chicken nuggets," she assured the other girl. "Looks like you don't need my lessons," she winked, referring to their earlier conversation. Mal's heart skipped a beat at the action.

"Can't get out of it that easy, princess. I believe you owe me dinner, and I paid for this fine meal," Mal teased back. Her heart was beating hard, and she hoped she had not overstepped any boundaries. Evie nodded, red-brown eyes boring into green.

"Fair enough," she agreed. "But if I heard you correctly, this is a meal for two, so would you care to join me?" she purred. Mal quickly agreed, her hunger being the reason she had gotten food in the first place. She quickly realized there wasn't enough room at the desk for the both of them, however. As much as she really wouldn't mind sitting on the other girl's lap, she knew that probably wouldn't go over well.

"My bed has more room if you want to move over there..." she suggested tentatively.

"Wow. We're not even done with dinner, and you already want me in your bed, Mal?" Evie asked, face blank. The purple-haired girl fidgeted and stammered uselessly until Evie's façade broke and she grinned at the flustered girl. "Good thing nothing about our relationship has been conventional so far," she noted, gracefully lifting out of the chair and sitting down cross-legged in the bed with the box of chicken nuggets. Mal's heart was still pounding at the word 'relationship' by the time the mattress dipped with her weight.

A few minutes passed with only the rustle of the box and muted chewing to be heard. Mal had taken a trip to a nearby vending machine and gotten them drinks. She had even been caught staring at Evie a few times already. Although the response was always sly smiles and faint blushes, it wasn't long before Mal begged for a distraction to save herself the embarrassment.

"Do you, uh, wanna watch something? You can pick out whatever you want," she asked the other girl, nodding her head in the direction of her television.

"Sure!" Evie replied, taking the remote from Mal's offered hand and flipping through the channels. An involuntary squeal escaped her lips, and Mal's eyes widened instinctively at the unexpected noise. "A Project Runway Marathon! Oh Mal, can we watch it?!" Evie pleaded, wide eyes melting Mal's resolve.

"Yeah, of course," she quickly agreed, even though she had never heard of the program. Evie clapped excitedly.

It wasn't long before Mal was just as engulfed in the show as Evie. She had always been interested in fashion, but she was unaware of how big and cutthroat the industry really was. Evie quickly pledged her allegiance to Margarita, a fellow Latina. When prompted with 'come on, Mal, you have to pick!', an abundance of 'pretty please!' and pouty lips, Mal picked Samantha as her favorite. She had the closest taste in fashion to her, after all.

Pillows were thrown and curses grumbled when Samantha was voted out less than halfway through the season. "It's just not the right setting for her aesthetic to thrive," Evie assured, placing her hand on Mal's. Suddenly Mal couldn't find it in herself to be grumpy anymore.

Their fingers were still intertwined during episode nine, and Mal could honestly barely keep her eyes open. She'd eaten so many chicken nuggets she was probably slipping into a food coma. Evie was mildly fatigued, but her power nap from earlier was pulling her through. The television light did wonders for her, and Mal wondered if anyone was really that beautiful or if she was sleepily hallucinating.

By episode 12, Evie had suddenly awakened with a jolt. The first thing she registered was that she had obviously fallen asleep, and by the looks of the cast, she had missed an episode and was now being spoiled. When she searched for the remote, she realized that she couldn't possibly reach it without waking Mal, who was peacefully resting on her shoulder. Her smile grew quickly, and she couldn't keep from beaming at how adorable the girl was in such a vulnerable state. She bit her lip in attempt to contain her swelling feelings. A deep breath helped calm her, and she gently rested her head on Mal's. It didn't take long for her eyes to drift back closed. The thought never occurred to her to go home.

The door squeaked quietly as Jay tried his best to sneak back into his dorm. When he entered, he was surprised to find a light illuminating Mal's corner of the room at this hour. Because his entrance was met with silence, he figured his roommate had fallen asleep. He tiptoed over to the television to turn it off for her when he stopped in his tracks. The last thing he expected to see was Evie Grimhilde in Mal's bed. He had only been in Auradon for a week, but it didn't take long to discover the blue-haired beauty was the apple of nearly everyone's eye.

The second to last thing he expected was to see Mal all snuggled up to her. Or anyone, for that matter. Mal was not exactly known for affection, after all. A grin creeped across his face. He couldn't help but feel happy for his closest friend. He carefully moved the blankets further up on the girls' bodies. The movement caused Mal to wake suddenly, and she glared at her intruder.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered accusingly.

"I was just trying to cover you up, but you probably don't need it sleeping with the hottest girl in school!" he joked.

"Shut up," Mal fired, hoping it was dark enough that he couldn't read her blush.

Quietly laughing, Jay turned off the television before whispering "Sweet dreams!" teasingly and exiting the dorm. Mal didn't doubt the contents of her dreams would be sweet. She did doubt that Jay actually had a decent place to crash tonight. But he was a big boy; he could take care of himself. And she was quite pleased he respected her and Evie's privacy.

The girl in question sighed enticingly and adjusted her position so her head was on Mal's chest and her arm was around her waist. Mal prayed to any deity that was listening that her pounding heartbeat wouldn't wake the other girl. She carefully placed her arms around Evie and sighed contently. She couldn't quite place what that feeling was, but she could definitely get used to it.


End file.
